Health and Hospital Corporation Board Meeting - August 12, 2026
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Health and Hospital Corporation Board Meeting - August 12, 2026
The Health and Hospital Corporation Board of Trustees convened on August 12, 2026, at approximately 2:00 PM. Chairperson Trustee Lazard presided. Present: Vice Chairperson Drummer, Trustees Du Sett, Hannafee, and Horn. Absent: Trustees O'Brien and Dr. Fish. The meeting opened with a prayer and proceeded through the consent calendar, a public hearing on the 2027 budget, and committee reports.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the July 28, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously via roll call vote (5-0), motion by Vice Chairperson Drummer, seconded by Trustee Du Sett.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak at the public hearing on General Ordinance 2-2026; the hearing was closed.
Discussion Items
General Ordinance 2-2026 (2027 Budget) – Second Reading
- General Counsel Ann O'Connor read the ordinance for the second time. CFO James Simpson presented an overview, noting no changes since the budget was introduced on July 28, 2026. Two updates will be reflected at the August 25, 2026 meeting: 1) Marion County assessed values increased by approximately $2 billion, which will lower the tax rate slightly and result in an ordinance addendum (with an 'A' designation); 2) a potential reallocation between "other charges and services" and computer supplies to avoid a later reclassification.
- Key budget figures: property tax revenue expected to be just over $148 million; general fund budget balanced at just under $412 million; special revenue fund at just under $2.2 million; bond retirement fund at $2.2 million; Eskenazi campus fund at $43 million; the ability fund will have a deficit in 2027 requiring $58.9 million in operating balance use; two enterprise funds (Eskenazi and long-term care) remain balanced, with a slight surplus on the Eskenazi side, and budgets of $1.38 billion and $1.07 billion, respectively.
- The ordinance will be presented for adoption at the August 25, 2026 board meeting.
Compliance & Internal Audit Committee Report
- Chief Compliance Officer Lisa Taylor reported that internal audit and compliance have partnered on the annual risk assessment, which is nearly complete. Internal audit and compliance work plans for 2027 will be brought to the October meeting for approval.
- Three internal audit projects were completed in the last six months; three additional audits have been started, and two more are planned before year-end.
- Internal audit is expanding technology-enabled continuous monitoring through "risk cubes," focusing on access, accounts payable activity, duplicate payments, missed discounts, and credit codes.
- No significant compliance issues were reported in areas including privacy, billing, long-term care, and advisory issues.
Strategic Plan Committee Report
- James Simpson reported on the Strategic Plan Committee meeting held at 12:30 PM. Mike Cobert, Managing Director of Forest and Zars, provided opening remarks on progress and challenges, praising cross-divisional collaboration. CEO Paul Babcock thanked all involved.
- Clinical health outcomes, presented by Dr. Harris and Nicole Goddard, showed all green scores with one yellow metric. Community health, presented by Dr. Kane, showed the majority of metrics green and two yellow.
- The CEO provided enhancing access and growth updates, including a subcommittee established to deploy dollars for strategic capital initiatives.
- On sustainability, three metrics were lowered by one level, but management believes targets can still be achieved.
Key Outcomes
- The consent calendar (minutes) was approved 5-0.
- The public hearing was closed with no public comment; the 2027 budget ordinance will be adopted at the next meeting on August 25, 2026.
- The next regular board meeting is scheduled for August 25, 2026.
- The meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
I've got just about a minute before two o'clock, so we're gonna go ahead and get started. I've asked uh Bishop Rob to uh open us up in a uh word of prayer as our board gathers this day, may they be mindful of the trust placed in their hands in these days of planning, budgeting, the preparation. May wisdom guide the decisions that need to be made, help to distinguish between what is merely desired and what is truly needed, and may that same spirit of wisdom infuse within our board members an ongoing sense of responsible stewardship over the resource that's entitled or entrusted to the Health and Hospital Corporation. May each decision made here remain mindful of community touched by the work of the whole, and may those who are gathered listen carefully, deliberate thoughtfully and act with integrity, compassion, and a steadfast commitment to the common amen. Amen. Thank you, Bishop Crown. Appreciate that. Uh do a uh a roll call uh vote to or roll call to call the meeting to order. Um trustee and vice chairperson Drummer present uh trustee Du Sett present, trustee Hannafee present, trustee Horn present, uh Trustee Lazard, the chairs here, and uh Trustee O'Brien and Trustee Dr. Fish are both absent today, so I won't on additional uh readings and include but we'll note that they're both absent for the remainder of the meeting uh today. With that, um I would ask for um the approval of the uh the the minutes from the July 28th, 2026 uh meeting. Is there a motion? So move. It's been moved by uh trustee and vice chairperson drummer. Is there a second? Second. It's been seconded by trustee du set. Uh I hear out of my left there on my right. Um we'll do a roll call. Um if you're in favor, say yes. Uh trustee uh and vice chairperson drummer. Yes. Trustee Du Set. Yes. Trustee Hannafees. Yes. Trustee Horn. Yes. And chairperson uh trustee Lazard votes yes. Uh so it passes unanimously uh five to uh zero two. Uh the uh next item on the agenda uh is the general ordinance two-2026, the 27th 2027 budget uh hearing. Um with that, I'm going to uh uh added as the next item. This was introduced in read by title or the for the first time in the July 28th, 2026 meeting. Uh and uh uh the uh ordinance will now be read for the second time by HHC's general counsel uh Ann O'Connor. Number two 2026, 2027 next. Next we will hear uh an overview of the uh ordinance presented by uh James Simpson, our CFO, and then the uh uh assistant treasurer of Health and Hospital Corps. Thank you, uh Chairman Lazarus. Trustees, I'll be brief. Uh since we introduced the budget July 28th, there's been no changes. Um we come back uh on August 25th. Two changes. One, we now know the NSS values for Marion County for our tax industry. So they did increase is approximately uh two billion. So we'll put that new number in our tax levy for me the same, but uh with the assess value going up, the tax rate will drop slightly. So there'll be the ordinance will have the the A on the end of it, we might only want to and then one other update. We are monitoring uh computer supplies, the supply line is pretty tight for 2026. We might do a slight shift between other charges and services and put a little more money to supplies for 2027, not change the general fund budget all, but just reallocate a little bit on this um this one adjustment for the ordinance so we can make sure for 27 we have no need to do a reclassification once once the day the board approves that budget. So we can make sure for 27, we have no need to do a reclassification once once the day the board approves that budget. So the next steps will reconvene at the August 25th meeting for the vote on this budget. Summary, it does list the property tax levy without circuit breaker, our lower taxes on the general fund.
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